Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Tops Everywhere!

When God closes a door, He opens a window. Such was the case last night with the conclusion of Top Chef and the commencement of Top Design (so many tops in one night could make a boy's head spin). And last night, playing the role of God, was the Bravo-TV network.

It's no secret that I am not a fan of the now-ended Top Chef. My friend Matt thinks that the show would better serve its audience by being telecast on the Food Network where the chefs might actually take the time to show us how they prepared their meals so that we could possibly duplicate them and actually learn something. I still don't know what a reduction sauce is - it would be nice if they explained how they went about creating this ready-to-photograph dish in just 8 seconds. Each chef creates about 30 dishes per season - think of the recipe book Top Chef could publish.

The one redeeming quality of this show was that I thought the judges were right on with whom they were choosing - that is, until last week when they dimissed the two strongest contenders for the title: Sam and Elia. Sam had been my choice for Top Chef (and the only reason I actually would watch the show) throughout the competition. He was a dominant force in the kitchen, seemed to be the most talented, and he was smolderingly sexy. I mean - c'mon!!!!!!!The show is already a bad concept, and dismissing Sam only made it a farce.

So anyway, last night we caught the premiere of Top Design. And I have a few comments:

1. Storm and Diana Prince totally deserved to lose with that dreck. Just because it has an Asian theme does not always make it stylish. Besides, they were boring.

2. What the deuce is up with Todd Oldham's (right) face?? Is it botox? Is it a nip 'n tuck? Is it bad lighting? Did he have a chemical peel two hours before the taping? Todd is a designer - he needs to create more flattering lighting for himself.

3. Jonathan Adler is totally cute in the "gay Jewish boy who loves his mother" sense.

4. I knew that Eyebrows and Chipmunk would not get kicked off because there was way too much drama with them.

Top Design is not Project Runway. And Todd Oldham has a long way to go to compete with Tim Gunn (and what does Tim think of Top Design?). But the show has potential and it will be a fun Wednesday night filler. Besides, anything is better than Top Chef..